WASHINGTON  The Kennedy Center was awash in patriotism and stirring performances during the Concert for America, designed to pay tribute to those lost in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and to celebrate the American spirit.

President and Mrs. Bush, Secretary of State Colin Powell, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice and other dignitaries were part of the invitation-only audience. Bush said, "I want to thank all of the artists and all of the heroes who are here tonight."

Among the latter, government and military personnel, emergency workers from New York, Washington and Pennsylvania, attack survivors and the families of victims were represented.

The concert, which was hosted by NBC News' Tom Brokaw, airs on NBC Wednesday at 9 p.m. PT and immediately after the presidential address in all other time zones.

A broad spectrum of artists was featured, including Placido Domingo, India Arie, Alan Jackson, Reba McEntire, Gloria Estefan, Jane Monheit, Renee Fleming, Denyce Graves, Chris Isaak, Al Green, Josh Groban, Enrique Iglesias and the National Symphony Orchestra, led by Leonard Slatkin. Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani and Aretha Franklin, who had been scheduled to appear, were unable to attend because of deaths in their families.

The audience reacted strongly to a moving You'll Never Walk Alone by Fleming, a rollicking This Land Is Your Land by McEntire, Monheit's soaring Over the Rainbow and a churchified People Get Ready by Green.

The program also featured film montages of Americana (including images from the World Trade Center), testimonies about the meaning of America from celebrities and ordinary citizens alike, and quotations from John F. Kennedy, John Updike, Mark Twain, Abraham Lincoln and Pericles, delivered by James Earl Jones, Lance Armstrong, Angela Bassett, Kelsey Grammer and others.

New York-New Jersey Port Authority police officer Greg Brady, who helped in the rescue and recovery efforts at the World Trade Center, said: "It was a very moving tribute. It was very fitting. Not a day goes by that you don't think about the lives that were lost."

Brokaw called the event "a bittersweet occasion. It's a gift to the nation to remember and mourn and to honor and celebrate."